Launch of New US Spy Satellite Delayed to Early 2019

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The launch of an oft-delayed U.S. spy satellite has been pushed back again, this time to no earlier than Jan. 6, according to the United Launch Alliance. 

A ULA Delta IV Heavy rocket was scheduled to launch the clandestine satellite mission, called NROL-71, on Sunday (Dec. 30) from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base. The launch has been delayed several times due to rocket issues, most recently on Dec. 19 due to a suspected hydrogen leak on the booster. 

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying the NROL-71 spy satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office stands atop its launchpad at California's Vandenberg Air Force Base ahead of a Dec. 19, 2018 launch attempt. (Image credit: United Launch Alliance)

"The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy carrying the NROL-71 mission will launch no earlier than Sunday, Jan. 6, 2019," ULA representatives said in a statemement."The mission will launch from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California."

ULA's attempts to launch the NROL-71 mission on Dec. 7 and 8 were delayed by technical issues. An attempt on Dec. 18 was thwarted by high winds, leading to the Dec. 19 launch scrub.

Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom and Facebook. Originally published on Space.com.

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Tariq Malik
Tariq Malik
Editor-in-Chief

Tariq is the Editor-in-Chief of Space.com and joined the team in 2001, first as an intern and staff writer, and later as an editor. He covers human spaceflight, exploration and space science, as well as skywatching and entertainment. He became Space.com's Managing Editor in 2009 and Editor-in-Chief in 2019. Before joining Space.com, Tariq was a staff reporter for The Los Angeles Times covering education and city beats in La Habra, Fullerton and Huntington Beach. In October 2022, Tariq received the Harry Kolcum Award for excellence in space reporting from the National Space Club Florida Committee. He is also an Eagle Scout (yes, he has the Space Exploration merit badge) and went to Space Camp four times as a kid and a fifth time as an adult. He has journalism degrees from the University of Southern California and New York University. You can find Tariq at Space.com and as the co-host to the This Week In Space podcast with space historian Rod Pyle on the TWiT network. To see his latest project, you can follow Tariq on Twitter @tariqjmalik.